The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

Devotion is the head of meditation, as is often said. When you are inspired by some spiritual teacher, you can have a very strong connection with that person, and thereby the blessings can enter.

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

The path to liberation is a gradual path of self-discipline, self-development, and self-transformation.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The object of meditation and the mind which knows it must be noted as they occur. If they are not noted, desire arises and disturbs concentration.

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.